Dayton "Dirt" - September 7, 2012

Sept. 7th blog On Saturday, September 1st, mayhem reigned as it was the first day of our 50% off sale for garden club members. There is still a good selection of plants on sale although some of the choice evergreens sold within hours of opening the gates at 7:30 a.m. More fresh product ranging from holly, arborvitae and western red cedars will be coming in over the course of the next two weeks so that we won’t have “bare” shelves when we sell all existing stock. Many of you have begun lawn renovation by over seeding bare spots from drought, insects or disease. If you don’t have a thick thatch layer, a slit seeder works wonders for over seeding as it injects the seed into the ground so that it germinates well. Copley Tool Rental near Copley circle has one called a Bluebird seeder that is light and easy to handle which seems to be a favorite of landscapers. All that is needed after the operation is a starter fertilizer such as Greenview’s 10-18-10 and finally water! As I have repeatedly said many times, a tall fescue lawn seed will root deeply and tolerate drought and wear. Please do not over seed with this seed if you have a bluegrass-rye grass lawn as tall fescue will not blend well with these grasses. The brand we sell is called Carefree mix and is a blend of different varieties of the grasses in order to achieve a thick healthy lawn. The chrysanthemums are finally starting to show some color so that by the 15th of September. I think there will be a show. Quite a show will be in the Mum Fest in Barberton on the last weekend of September with all the mums and festivities centered around Lake Anna. I’ll be giving my annual talk and interviews on the Mum Fest during our radio program on Saturday, September 29th beginning at 8 a.m. on 1590 AM WAKR. Happy Fall! Tom